Patch panel

ABSTRACT

A stacked patch panel comprising two plates, such as printed circuit board, each provided with cable connectors and a separate supporting plate, made of rigid material, such as metal. The upper portion of the cable connectors of the lower plate lie in a plane adjacent to or below that of the bottom portion of the upper plate. The panel is also provided with means to anchor the cables and with means to hold the plates in relative alignment and to attach them to a supporting rack.

[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part application of PCT Application PCT/IL02/00164, filed Mar. 4, 2002.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of electrical signal connections for computer networks. More specifically the invention relates to an improvement over existing designs of patch panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Local area computer networks (LANS) used today in governmental and private office buildings, educational institutions, banks, etc. consist of a central network equipment, such as a hub or switch, connected to a large number varying from tens to thousands of personal computers, or workstations, that are widely spread within the office, building, or even at much more remotely located locations. All users of the LAN are connected to each other and to the central computing and memory storage of the system by either copper or fiber optic cables. The function of the patch panel is to assist in making fast and simple changes in the interconnections of the multitude of patch cords and cables in the system between users and network equipment.

[0004] It is a purpose of this invention to provide a patch panel that overcomes the limitation of the prior art by doubling the number of connections that can be made in the same amount of space occupied by a existing patch panels of standard dimensions.

[0005] It is another purpose of the present invention to provide a patch panel in which the PCB plates be easily removed for maintenance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention is directed towards a stacked patch panel comprising two plates each provided with cable connectors and a separate supporting plate, wherein the upper portion of the cable connectors of the lower plate lie in a plane adjacent or below that of the bottom portion of the upper plate. The panel being further provided with means to anchor the cables and with means to hold the plates in relative alignment and to attach them to a supporting rack.

[0007] In one embodiment of the invention each of the two plates is a printed circuit board and the supporting plates are made of rigid material such steel, other metals, plastic materials, etc. The cable connectors are standard connectors for copper or optical fiber cables.

[0008] All the above and other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be further understood through the following illustrative and non-limitative description of several embodiments thereof, with reference to the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the user side of a typical LAN;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the front, side, and top of the patch panel of the invention; and

[0012]FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the plates that make up the patch panel of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

[0013]FIG. 1 schematically shows the main elements of the user side of a typical local area network (LAN). Patch cords 2 connect between the hub or switch 1 and the patch panel 3. From the patch panel, cables 4 conduct the signals to and from the individual workstations 6 through the communication outlets 5.

[0014]FIGS. 2 and 3 show the main features of the device of the invention, which is generally designated by numeral 3 in FIG. 2. As shown in the exploded view of FIG. 3, the patch panel of the invention is made up of four separate plates. The two plates, designated by numeral 28 in FIG. 3, are made of a suitable rigid material, for example steel or plastic material, and are used to support the other two plates and attached cables.

[0015] The two plates designated by numeral 27 in FIGS. 2 and 3 are Printed Circuit Boards that provide the electrical continuity between the “front” 21 and “back” 23 connector devices, that are mounted on the top of the board. The front side connectors 21 connect to the patch cords (FIG. 1) and are standard connectors, for example RJ45 jacks. The cables 4 (FIG. 1) connect to connector devices 23, which can be any suitable device such as 110 connection modules or Krone modules. The above examples are suitable for the case of copper cables; but, as will be understood by the skilled person, standard connectors are provided in other embodiments of the invention for connecting optical fibers.

[0016] The two supporting plates 28 are not present in conventional patch panels which typically comprise only one such plate because of the requirements of maintenance and installation that typically require more space. In the present invention, the basic building block consists of the stacked arrangement shown in FIG. 2. By proper choice of the connector devices and the insertion of plates 28 between the circuit boards, the plates can be placed one upon the other and, in the particular illustrated embodiment of the invention shown in the figures, it is such that the top plate is supported by the connector devices of the bottom plate. However, other arrangements can be provided, which do not require support by the connectors.

[0017] The plates 27 and 28 may include bores 33 and 43 at the back side of each plate. All panels bores 33 and 43, of the plates 27 and 28, are essentially aligned when they are placed one upon the other, that can be used to hold the plates in relative alignment and prevent displacements by utilizing vertical mounting elements. This arrangement of the invention is particularly beneficial for maintenance since the PCB plates 27 can be easily released and removed from the panel by removing the vertical mounting elements.

[0018] It has been found that creating this stacked arrangement leads to no undesirable effects or deterioration of electrical performance over conventional patch panels. By means of this arrangement twice as many connection points are made available per unit height of the standard (1U) height panels.

[0019] Numeral 24 designates anchoring points that are an integral part of plates 28. The function of these anchoring points is to assist with the task of cable routing and to provide a place for clamping or tying down the cables (strain relief feature). Numeral 26 designates rack-mounting ears which are designed to hold the two portions of the panel on a conventional rack.

[0020] Numeral 22 designates a LED that is associated with each of the connector devices 21. Two 26-pin connectors, designated by numeral 25, are provided on each circuit board 27. The connectors 25 and LEDs 22 are optional devices not relevant to the present invention, but are parts of a system (described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,467 by the same applicant) used to manage the network cable connections.

[0021] Although embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may be carried out with many variations, modifications, and adaptations, without departing from its spirit or exceeding the scope of the claims.

[0022] Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described within the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A stacked patch panel comprising cable connectors, anchoring means to anchor the cables, and holding means to hold said patch panel on a rack; characterized by being comprised of four plates arranged in a stack, according to the following order, from bottom to top: a) a first plate, which is a support plate comprising said anchoring means and said holding means; b) a second plate, which is a cable connector carrying plate comprising said cable connectors and other electronic components; c) a third plate, which is a support plate, identical to said first plate; and d) a fourth plate, which is a connector carrying plate, identical to said second plate; wherein, the top of the cable connectors of said second plate lie in a plane adjacent to or below said third plate.
 2. A stacked patch panel according to claim 1, wherein each of the two plates is a printed circuit board.
 3. A stacked patch panel according to claim 1, wherein the supporting plates are made of rigid material.
 4. A stacked patch panel according to claim 3, wherein the rigid material is a metal.
 5. A stacked patch panel according to claim 4, wherein the metal is steel.
 6. A stacked patch panel according to claim 1, wherein the cable connectors are chosen from the group including: a. RJ45 jacks b. 110 connection modules c. Krone modules d. Standard connectors for metal or optical fiber cables. 